


What Doesn't Kill You

by mtill999



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: M/M, trigger warning self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28330257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtill999/pseuds/mtill999
Summary: So where exactly did David go when Billy and Teddy got married?*I just had to write this before Leah revealed the answer*set during Empyre/Strikeforce/X-Factor
Relationships: David Alleyne/Tommy Shepherd, Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan
Kudos: 15





	What Doesn't Kill You

Las Vegas. Wedding Day.

“I was literally a galaxy away—”

“Well shut up! I was a dimension away!”

America’s inter-dimensional portal was the first to appear. You could bet that Tommy’s gonna get competitively jealous because he wasn’t the fastest.

“America! Noh! Thanks for coming on such a short notice,” Teddy grabbed his friends in for a huge hug, meanwhile Billy just got through to his parents and the Kaplans were waving at them on the other side of the phone.

“We’re LIVE! Now we just have to wait for Tommy—”

“I’M—” Tommy’s voice appeared for a split second but they only saw Eli. “RIGHT—” Now Cassie as well. “HERE!” Then Kate, and finally Tommy himself.

“Everyone’s here, you can start now,” Tommy announced, except that both the grooms were looking at him weirdly.

“How come you’re wearing THAT to my wedding?” Billy stared at Tommy’s T-shirt with the most appalled look. “Literally everyone else had time to get changed and YOU didn’t?”

“Where’s David?” said Teddy. Finally someone noticed.

“He’s at work,” Tommy shrugged.

“But he was with us an hour ago—”

“It’s urgent! Can you start? I thought you were in a hurry and I didn’t even get to finish my fries!” Tommy seemed exceptionally impatient today, but then again, he’s Tommy! He’s always impatient, right?

“Hon, we’ve got twenty minutes left, so...” Billy reached for Teddy’s hand and Teddy took his. “Yeah, let’s start first,” Teddy smiled. Their hands clamped and fingers entwined. As they walked down the aisle to the arch, Allan and Jim had just finished setting everything up.

“Okay but something definitely happened between Tommy and David. They were fine when I left them and I’m pretty sure David didn’t mention having any work and they were heading home together and—”

“Teddy!” Billy had to cup his man’s face and almost kiss him to seal his mouth. “I care about Tommy and David too, but can we please have our wedding first? I can only have you for just twenty more minutes! Look, I promise I will check on them and everything, okay?”

“Mm-hmm,” Teddy circled Billy’s waist and answered with an affirmative kiss. They probably should’ve done this AFTER they’ve said the vows and AFTER Allan said ‘you can now kiss your groom,’ but who’d resist kissing twice, right?

Nine minuets later, Billy and Teddy teleported home while America and Tommy sent everyone back where they were. Half an hour later, Billy came to Tommy and David’s house and knocked, only to find Tommy wearing pajamas and holding a knife at the door.

“Shouldn’t you be doing something gross with Teddy right now?” Tommy still looked rather annoyed and definitely did not welcome his brother, not that Billy cared anyway. “Teddy’s got conscripted, me too but by different people so I couldn’t go with him,” Billy said and forced himself into Tommy’s house. “Besides, I promised him I’d check on you.”

“Check on me what?”

“Where’s David?” Billy looked around and saw an organised mess, but not another soul.

“I told you he’s at work!” Tommy rolled his eyes. Billy too. “Oh so he had time to hang out with you and my husband, but the moment Teddy and I are getting married, he’s suddenly at work?”

“It’s urgent!”

“What kind of work is that urgent and he couldn’t even have spared ten minutes?”

“IT’S URGENT WORK!”

“So you don’t even know what work?”

“I said URGENT, are you dumb or deaf?”

“Ugh, repeating doesn’t make it make sense, Tommy,” Billy shook his head in frustration. “Fine, you’re not telling me, which...probably meant that you had a fall out or something—“

“Fuck off.”

“I’m just saying if you need to talk to someone, or if you need help or anything, I’m...here?”

“I need you to leave my house.”

“FINE. I’m busy anyway. Oh and when you and David get back together, tell him that my Dad recorded the wedding and I’ll send him a copy to let him know what he missed out on.”

“Get the fuck out of my house!”

“Happy to,” Billy said as he walked to the door. “By the way, why’re you holding a knife?”

“I’m about to eat an apple.”

“Can I have one too? I’m really hungry after sex and teleporting spell made it worse.”

“Eww. No,” said Tommy and he slammed the door closed hard. Billy sighed and began to ponder whether he should go home or back to Strikeforce. Honestly he was hungry and sleepy, might as well eat something and sleep for a while before work. Or he could call Teddy and tell him that Tommy’s still being odd...

Wait.

He saw Tommy holding a knife, but there wasn’t any apple in his hand. Shouldn’t you be holding an apple too if you’re to eat one? And when Billy scouted the room looking for David, he’s pretty sure he saw no apple either.

There was no apple. At all.

So why was Tommy—

Billy’s mind went ‘FUCK’ and teleported him right back into Tommy’s house, and sadly yet unsurprisingly found Tommy using the knife to cut his wrist, all while staring at the wound and the dripping blood with his eyes wide open in an emotionless and hence creepy way.

“What’re you doing!” Billy quickly wished for the knife to disappear and for Tommy’s wound to heal. “I told you,” his brother said in a cold voice. “I’m going to eat an apple.”

“What—” Billy watched in horror when Tommy continue to try to scratch his still freshly open wound. “Tommy, stop! Don’t—”

His brother suddenly turned to stare at him with likely the scariest look possible. Never had he seen Tommy this angry since...juvie? And somehow this made him realise, because after all, they ARE identical twins, like it or not...

“Oh my god Tommy I’m so SO sorry...” Billy said as he held back his tears and gathered all the strength to formulate his next spell. “I’m an idiot I should’ve guessed it sooner...”

He closed his eyes and did his best to focus.

“ _I WANT TOMMY TO SNAP OUT OF MIND CONTROL I WANT TOMMY TO SNAP OUT OF—_ ”

“Are you coming?”

“...What?”

Tommy had speedily wrapped his would with bandage and changed to his uniforms. Somehow he now looked even angrier, but definitely more like himself.

“I’m gonna find out who killed David and killed them myself.”

“...David died?” Yes Billy kind of guessed it just now, except that he wished it was less serious.

“And I’m going to Krakoa.”

“I thought they banned—”

“I don’t care! Are you fucking coming?”

“...Yes.”

So Tommy obviously couldn’t wait for Billy’s teleportation spell, and he just grabbed his brother and...sort of invaded Krakoa? And went directly to the Arbor Magna Hatchery. Apparently David did tell Tommy a lot about Krakoa.

“Wait, only mutants are allowed on—oh no you’re the Pretender’s sons...”

Josh’s voice became weaker and weaker, and the fact that Tommy’s shaking his shoulder demanding him to, or say threatening to kill him if he doesn’t bring David back while Billy’s just standing there glaring at him obviously did not help with the situation. “So you guys really DO call her ‘the Pretender’, huh?”

“Uh—”

“Tommy? And B—” as soon as David appeared in the room he’s interrupted by a Tommy rushing to hug him and clearly not planning to let go anytime soon.

“What happened to your hand?”

“Nothing.”

“Let me see.”

“Just a scratch.”

As David insisted on examining Tommy’s arm and Tommy insisting on not letting him and hence keeping the posture, Josh collected his breaths—being shaken by a speedster was honestly no fun—and noticed that Billy was inspecting the eggs and probably wondering what’s inside, or...

“Hey, if you’re gonna pull a ‘no more—”

“What did you just say?”

“Uhhhhh. Nothing? But if you and your brother stay here—”

“Could you please, Elixir? Our friend just died and got resurrected and you’re urging us away? Though I must say it’s pretty impressive that you guys brought David back in less than an hour.”

“...What do you mean less than an hour?”

The room suddenly fell into grave silence akin to what you’d see in a horror film when you realised that someone’s missing, or that someone _else_ is here, though ‘spooky’ is probably not the right word to use for a resurrection site.

“David died...” Josh said slowly, not sure if it was suspicion or worry or fright that stopped him, but most likely all of those. “At least a month ago. And we only confirmed it yesterday after a thorough search by the Cerebro.”

“What?” said Tommy and Billy but not simultaneously because Tommy of course said it way faster.

“But that’s impossible? He was literally hanging out with my brother and my husband hours ago!”

“Wait, when did you and Teddy got married?” David frowned, obviously not because of the marriage but because he began to realise how much he had missed while being dead.

“Around half an hour ago? You happened to, umm...be dead. I’m so sorry.”

“So where were we when I died?” he turned to Tommy, who immediately entered the rambling mode.

“Do you remember how Teddy was missing Billy always like those kind of dogs who just sat there by the door waiting for their master to return and we thought that we couldn’t let him rot in his house like that so we grabbed him to the bar and yet he started talking about Billy again until this gay couple appeared and said something like you’re our king and saviour and all that and it turned out that another group of homophobic Skrulls were there as well and we fought them and then we decided to got fries so we did and we were heading home and all of a sudden this shadowy thing that was so fast that not even I could see—”

“Wait, wait! Listen, I also want to know what happened, but,” said a concerned Josh, who shared a look with the rest of the Five who came here with David. “You two really can’t stay here, okay?”

“Josh, they’re my friends.”

“I know, and I won’t tell anyone about this. They won’t either if your friends leave now,” he eyed at the Five. “But if the Professor finds out, and he will sooner or later, then...”

“—knocked you out. Technically it killed you but I somehow only realised that after Billy lifted the spell so I thought it just knocked you out at that time and I wanted to catch it but it knocked me out as well and then I woke up and you were gone and there was blood and I had no idea what happened and I don’t know why but there was a voice in my head telling me that—”

“...You’re right,” David sighed. He looked at Billy, who nodded in agreement. “Tommy—”

“—you’re just off to work and it’s urgent I mean I could felt that something was wrong but my mind was trying to keep me off it and that’s when I got Billy’s text saying he and Teddy were getting married and—”

“Tommy!” “What?” “We’re going home now. And you have to tell me everything that’s happened since July because that’s when my memory stopped, and it’s already December.”

“...July?” Tommy paused and remained strangely silent for a while. The ecstasy and relief seemed to have gone again. “Okay,” he said at last, grabbing David’s hand and Billy’s wrist and started accelerating. “But I’ll come back and find out who killed you.”

Next thing they knew they were outside Billy and Teddy’s apartment. Before Billy could finish asking “wait why are we at my house not yours” Tommy threw an apple at his face because “didn’t you say you were hungry”.

“Where did you even get an—”

“So Billy texted you and said he and Teddy were getting married, and then?” David asked and sat down with Tommy at the sofa while Billy had to find himself a chair and kinda wished that Teddy’s still here.

“And then I went to pick up Kate and Cassie and Eli and whenever I thought of you my mind just told me that you’re at work and I shouldn’t bother you and—”

“I think he’s been hypnotised,” Billy explained. “I can tell it’s magic, I just don’t know what magic. Maybe Mom or Doc Strange can.”

“—I could feel that something was wrong but I just couldn’t name it and my mind kept telling me it was okay and I wanted it to shut up so I was figuring out how I could distract it and then Billy showed up again and he was fucking dumb and missed all the hints but then finally he knew and—”

“Hints? You literally cut yourself...”

“You cut yourself?” David reached out to hold Tommy’s hand and tried to see his wound again, only for Tommy backed off a bit. “It’s nothing and doesn’t matter! What matters is that it worked and I’m free and I’m ready to kill whoever did this!”

“So, David, do you have a clue?”

“I need to go back to Krakoa and ask the Five what they know first.”

“I’m going with you.” “Tommy.” “Fine. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be going in the future.” “Actually, you do have to go with me NOW and then come back.”

“You’re leaving now?” Billy looked at David, then Tommy. Tommy...seemed okay?

“The first principle of investigation is doing it as soon as possible.”

“...Right. If you two need anything, just text me. I’ll come as long as I’m not in outer space.”

“Thanks Billy, and happy wedding day. Do remember to send me that recording of yours.”

Within seconds Tommy sent David away and came back. He also brought some fries because when they got attacked, he didn’t even get to finish the meal. Which was unusual because he could finish one bag in a blink. Not when you’re actually sharing it with someone though, obviously.

“So are you okay?” Billy asked. Tommy shrugged and said, “I’m always ‘okay’.”

“Last time you claimed to be okay you were under some kind of mind control, so I’m not going to take your word for it this time.”

Tommy quickly devoured the whole bag of fries and sank himself in the sofa. After a few moments of silence, Billy finally heard him say, “he said July.”

“...I don’t get—”

“We started dating in August and moved in together by the end of it.”

“...Oh,” said Billy. Yes he now remembered that Teddy mentioned. Tommy fetched a cushion to cover his face so Billy couldn’t see his expression.

“Oh my god Tommy...” slowly he understood how absolutely heartbreaking it was. Had it happened to himself... “If there’s anything I can do—”

“There isn’t.”

“If you need someone to talk to—”

“I don’t.”

“...okay,” Billy shut himself up. He actually wasn’t really sure what he could do either. Maybe Teddy would know? Well...would he? He always had a way to get Billy to open up, for sure, but this was Tommy, so... maybe David would know. Both, however, seemed to be very bad ideas given the current circumstances.

Billy’s phone flickered. It was Blade. They needed him for some Monster Island thing. He checked on Tommy again and Tommy’s still buried in the cushions and being worryingly quiet. Though still alive.

“I need to leave now. Are you going to be okay?”

No response.

“Call me if you—”

“I won’t call you.”

“Okay cool,” Billy sighed. As he teleported away, he began to cast a spell in his heart. This kind of spell almost never worked, but...

_I WANT EVERYTHING TO BE OKAY_

“So basically David got killed and forgot everything after he and Tommy got together,” Billy said. He waved his hands and the scenes from his memory faded, then he fell back onto the bed and turned around to look at Teddy, who, after learning everything, was equally shocked and saddened by it, so much so that he was still sitting up and looking at the direction where Billy’s illusions were and processing.

“That’s...just terrible,” said Teddy when he finally turned to Billy too. “And cruel.”

“I know. Tommy will never admit it but it hit him hard, I can tell.”

“But David will figure out soon, right? He’s Prodigy, after all.”

“I hope so.”

“Do you think this is connected? David died but Tommy just passed out, and somehow he just happened to forget everything past July?”

“Not to mention that their backup was like once a month?” Billy added. “Yeah, it felt like it was to sabotage...but I don’t know how to tell them even if this is the case.”

“God I miss when our life was just fighting the Plunder. Or the Hood,” Teddy said. He breathed out a long sigh, and Billy sat up and pulled him into a warm embrace. Apart from being able to communicate on battlefields, another advantage to mind link is that it allows long-distance meet-ups to happen. Even galaxies apart. Though yes, in dreams only. Cuddling and smooching in dreams are still better than nothing.

“How’s YOUR day, then?”

“Well, umm, Mur-G’nn is in the team too. And...Kl’Rt.”

“Wow. That sucks. Are you okay?” Billy asked and brushed Teddy’s face gently, and Teddy turned his head slightly to kiss his hand.

“I got to punch him.”

“Great.”

“And there’s this Kree civil war that I’m gonna end soon? And now we’re heading to meet my Dad.”

“I wish I’m there with you,” said Billy, because to be honest he’s been asking are you okay for the whole night and no one looked okay ever. At least he knew he could support his husband a bit by being at his side?

“You’re always here with me,” said Teddy. He held Billy up and gave him a kiss. You could never have too much kissing for a day.

“Now how’s your day, handsome?”

“My husband’s lightyears away, my friend got murdered and my brother is hurt, and I still have no idea how to deal with this changeling prince which... is not a pun because you’re a shapeshifter and he’s a changeling and you’re MY prince and only MY husband gets to be the king of space—”

This finally made that pair of tears eyes smiled, and Billy smiled at himself too. Yes there indeed is something that you can always do to cheer up your husband a little.

“Hmm, I’m not sure if I want to be the king of space yet.”

“I need you to stay on that throne, Teddy, because this is the only chance I get to have a throne of my own, okay?”

“Looks like I have to rule the space for YOU then.”

“You always have to rule the space for me.”

The Boneyard. Late night. Pretty sure everyone’s asleep by now after working for hours.

Except for David, of course, guess sleep time was never a concept that existed in world class geniuses’ minds.

A swoosh went through his door and sat down by his side. “I know what you’re gonna say but no one saw me I promise. Not even Northstar,” said Tommy, and David handed him a helmet. “Wear this.”

“No. What’s this?”

“Blocks the telepaths’ prying.”

“Like my grandpa’s? I mean ‘ex-grandpa’.”

“I built it from your grandpa’s.”

“It’s ugly.”

“Necessary ugliness if you want to stay. Rachel won’t snitch on you but Xavier will.”

“Fine,” Tommy put on the helmet reluctantly.

“I look as old as Magneto now,” he complained, and crouched over to see his reflections in David’s screen, or maybe just to see what David’s doing.

“Can’t you make a goggle version of this?” Tommy asked and tapped on the helmet repeatedly. David sighed, but with a smile this time. “I will make you one after I solve this case.” “O-K-A-Y.”

Tommy managed to remain quiet for one second. He rested his head on David’s shoulder, only to find how inconvenient the helmet was. “Can’t you make me the goggles first AND THEN solve that case?”

“...I’ll write you a list and you can get the materials, then I’ll teach you how to assemble.”

“Great,” Tommy happily took off the helmet and leaned on David, watching him type. Somehow, it managed to not silence him but calm him.


End file.
